Oklahoma Legislature cuts unemployment benefits payout period from 26 weeks to 16 weeks
Oklahomans in the job market will have 10 fewer weeks to search for work while receiving unemployment benefits after a House measure advanced to the governor's desk on Monday.
House Bill 1933 is set to shorten the current benefits timeframe from 26 weeks to 16 weeks starting Jan. 1 of next year.
Then in 2025, the number of benefit weeks will be indexed to the number of people seeking benefits. As more people claim unemployment, the number of weeks they can receive it will increase, up to 26 weeks if 40,000 claims are approved.
While proponents of the bill have called it an incentive for people to get back to work quicker and a way to avoid a future funding shortage, opponents say it creates an additional burden to those in financial dire straits.
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Concerns voiced during the bill's consideration on the House floor also centered on the time it takes recently terminated employees to receive training for new work and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We understood it as a matter of, literally, life and death. And that's why many folks chose not to be in some meatpacking industry, standing shoulder to shoulder with someone," said Rep. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa. "And when they were forced with that choice, a lot of them said said 'I've got to get a different type of job because it's a matter of public health.'"
Additionally, a host of Democrats debated against the bill for not considering the different impacts that could be felt across the racial spectrum and for a lack of acknowledgment that the pandemic is still ongoing.
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"I want to believe that this is a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, but we simply don't know that," said Rep. Forrest Bennett, D-Oklahoma City. "And crafting policy that assumes we're past the worst of things is a very short sighted."
While sparring back and forth with Democratic lawmakers, House author, Rep. Ryan Martinez, R-Edmond, said the bill is meant to ensure the benefits will be available in the future.
According to Martinez, the U.S. Department of Labor sent a letter to the state in January explaining the state's unemployment fund would not last under current parameters.
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"Wouldn't it be a horrible scenario that we don't think big picture and plan for the solvency of this fund, and we come into a huge downturn, and there are zero dollars, or a smaller portion of dollars, and nobody's getting anything from it," Martinez said.
Currently, Oklahoma's unemployment rate sits at 2.7% with 13,000 claims, down from a pandemic high of 12.6%.
After just over an hour of consideration on the House floor, the bill passed by a 75-17 vote with Jay Steagall, R-Yukon, the lone Republican voting in opposition.
The bill now awaits Gov. Kevin Stitt's signature before it would go into effect in the new year.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma lawmakers cut 10 weeks from unemployment benefits payout
